Willow
by Row93
Summary: Roy Harper is send on an undercover mission, but his actions have unsuspected consequences. My own take on Lian's backstory, that's more close to the Teen Titans version. I started writing this before the start of season 2 so no spoilers ON HOLD
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so this is my very first fan fiction story. It's also the first time I wrote a complete story in english (which is not my native tongue). A few things: **

**I still have to come up with a better title, so this is just temporarily. **

**I just love Young Justice and I was inspired for this story by the fanfiction piece "Graceful Willow" by PureWolfWarrior**

**I made Roy character a bit more like he is in the teen titans, although I never actually read those comics sadly enough. **

**More chapters are coming as soon as I have time to write them. **

**I also have a profile on , if you want to check it out my username is the same so you can find my profile.**

******Hope you like it and please comment I would like to have some feedback! **

******Disclaimer: I don't own young justice**

_Mount Justice Feb 26th 14:16_

"Your mission is to go undercover within the league of shadows, to try to learn as much as possible about Cheshire and then turn her over to the local authorities."

Batman deep voice rang through the mission briefing room at Mount Justice, leading a shiver down Roy's spine.

No matter how many times he had spoken with Batman, the man still gave him the creeps.

Maybe it was because of the stories that were going around, about the times Batman had even threatened Superman.

"Okay, but…" he started to say, but Batman cut him off.

Roy quickly shut his mouth.

It was better for the sake of his life that he didn't argue with the Dark Knight.

"After you have turned her over, we'll handle it further. Black Canary is going to help you with your disguise. Dismissed."

The Dark Knight disappeared from the holographic screen.

"I was going to say that Cheshire knows how I look, but never mind. Why do I always get the most fun assignments?" Roy muttered sarcastically while he looked around the room.

Robin chuckled.

Next to him Kid Flash shrugged, "Dude, you get to hang out with one of the hottest villains. Remember to bring a souvenir for me." He said with a smirk as he made his way to the kitchen.

Roy shook his head, he still didn't understand what his fellow redhead wanted with all the 'souvenirs' he had collected.

It just piled up in his room.

"I wish Batman would trust me enough to give me a solo assignment, but he still thinks I'm too young to handle big missions on my own." Robin said with a sigh.

Roy looked down at the boy who standing at the other side next to him and who was still more than a head smaller than him.

"Yeah, I wonder why he still thinks that way, squirt." He said with a grin and received an elbow to his ribs.

He often teased the boy about his age and length but that didn't mean he had no respect for him.

On the contrary, of all the heroes he knew Robin was one of the best.

"Shut up, Roy." With a grumpy look on his face Robin followed Wally to the kitchen.

Again Roy looked around the room, only Black Canary was still there, patiently waiting for him.

"Why did they have to be with the briefing anyway?" he said half to himself and half to Dinah.

"Can you for once just stop complaining an act like the adult you claim to be?" Dinah said.

Roy shrugged.

To someone else it might have sounded harsh, but he knew she didn't really mean it.

"Come on, I have to get you in your disguise before 4 o'clock. Or else Ollie will also have something to complain about."

She said and stalked off to one of the unused quarters in the Cave.

For mission like these there were always all kind of clothes kept in the empty rooms in the Mountain.

Reluctantly Roy followed her.

"What kind of disguise are we talking about here?" he asked cautiously.

He had used disguises before, but if he had to fool Cheshire he probably needed something more extreme, like a wig or something.

"Oh, just the usual. Hair dye, contact lenses…"

Roy froze. "H-hair dye? But, but, but…" One of the things he liked best about himself was his hair color.

The fiery red always worked good with the ladies.

Dinah wished she could have taken a picture of Roy's face.

With his mouth hanging open en his eyes almost popping out of his skull.

She laughed, "Don't be a baby, it's just temporarily.

Two months and you have your own hair color back."

That seemed to calm Roy a bit, but on the look on his face she could see that he still didn't trust her completely.

But his fear of Batman overruled so he reluctantly told Dinah to do what she wanted.

"Take of your mask." Dinah ordered him. Still muttering to himself he took of his mask to reveal dark blue eyes.

"Sit down." and Roy obeyed.

Dinah was too young to actually be his mother but that didn't seem to bother her.

She had always cared about him like a mother, just like when he was younger and still lived with Oliver Queen.

When Dinah was finished with his hair she handed him his contact lenses.

They were a dark shade of brown.

"You can wear them for a month without having to take them out. But after four weeks you'll have to replace them."

Al least he didn't have to worry about forgetting to put them in this time.

The last time he wore contacts for a mission he almost betrayed himself by forgetting to put them in.

Luckily the group of criminals he had infiltrated were too stupid to notice it.

After Roy put the contacts in he looked in the mirror.

There was a guy staring at him that looked half Asian, with black hair and dark brown eyes.

"Wow." Was all that he could say. He cautiously touched his hair.

"You sure it doesn't stay this way?" he asked worried.

Dinah laughed again.

"Don't worry, I promise it will only last for two months. After that you can go back to being a carrot-head."

Roy snorted and was about to make a remark about Dinah's hair when Robin, Kid Flash and Green Arrow walked into the room.

"Dude!" Wally exclaimed, "Now who am I supposed to talk to who understands being a carrot-head!"

Roy stared at him, "Not you too." he was about to complain, but Robin cut him off.

"Who are you, and what have you done with Roy?" he said with a big grin on his face.

"Roy is gone, all there is now is Danny who secretly goes by the name Arsenal." Oliver said while he dropped a sports bag on the floor.

Making Roy ready to go undercover had taken at least an hour and Oliver had used that time to pick up the bag that Batman left at the watchtower.

"In here is everything you need: ID, cash, clothes, you name it. Batman even made sure there is an 'Arsenal' costume in there."

Roy noticed that Ollie still wasn't sure how to act around his former protégé.

So he just acted like nothing had happened.

Roy was fine with that, at least he didn't have to defend himself all the time this way.

"So, what's my story?" he asked.

"I can't just confront Cheshire and say that I want to know her better. That would raise a lot of suspicion wouldn't it?"

Robin snorted and Kid Flash shrugged.

"Why not? That's how I would do it." He said.

Robin gave him a shove, "Like that worked, as far as I know you're still single."

He said with an evil smile on his face.

Roy sighted.

Even though they were best friends they always bickered about something.

"Enough!" Dinah said with enough authority to make the two bickering friends immediately shut up.

Roy and Ollie simultaneously gave her a look that said 'thanks'.

Even with all her motherly instincts, Black Canary was still one off the best martial artists that Roy had ever seen.

And Robin and Kid Flash both knew that too.

"As for your 'story', you have a Vietnamese father who left you and your mother when you were a baby. Your mother took you back with her to America.

You grew up in poverty en vowed to take revenge on your father an became an assassin for hire to feed your mother.

Now you're going back to Vietnam to find your father and kill him.

You took up the identity of Arsenal so your mother would never find out how you came by money.

The rest you'll have to make up for yourself." Dinah smiled.

Roy took everything in.

He had to make sure he could prove his back-story if anybody in the League of Shadows asked him about it.

He was about to ask how when Ollie answered his thoughts.

"Batman also made sure that there is proof to confirm your story in the bag."

Suddenly Batman's voice once again was heard throughout the mountain.

"Batman to the Cave, Red Arrow report to the mission briefing room."

Then it was silent again.

"He still creeps me out." muttered Oliver while they all made their way to the mission briefing room.

Roy rolled his eyes.

The Bat freaked him out too, sometimes.

But they had to torture him before he would ever admit that to anybody.

On the screen Batman was waiting until everybody had arrived.

He glanced at Roy. "Good work, Black Canary."

Roy was about to open his mouth to say something but he was again cut off by Batman.

"We have a Zeta-beam ready to transport you to Happy Habor Airport."

Roy was just muttering about how everybody had been interrupting him the entire day every time he tried to say something when all of a sudden a thought hit him.

"Where am I going to live?"

Batman gave him a look that seemed to mean something like I'm-The- Batman-I-never-forget-anything.

"In your bag is a key for a locker on the airport in Vietnam.

It contains a key for a motorcycle and keys for an apartment. You will also find further instructions there. Maintain radio silence at all cost"

There was a silent moment.

Then Batman spoke up again. "Good luck, Batman out."

His image disappeared from the holo-screen.

Roy just stood there for a moment but then he picked up his sports-bag an hoisted it on his shoulders.

Oliver handed him his plane ticket.

For a moment he didn't know what to say.

Then he just shook Roy's hand.

"Good luck. Kiddo. I still have another appointment so I, uh have to go now."

With that he stalked off.

Roy gazed after him.

Then he shrugged, it was an improvement after all.

Out of the blue Dinah crushed him into a hug.

"Be careful, Roy." she whispered.

Behind her he could hear Robin and Kid Flash snicker.

"I will, Dinah. Can you please let me go now?" he begged.

"Sorry" she said sheepishly.

Sometimes she could overreact just a little bit.

Kid Flash and Robin both gave him a fist bumb and wished him good luck.

"See you later again, squirts." He said with a grin.

"Shut up, Roy!" they chimed.

Then he approached the Zeta-beam 'Red Arrow B-03' it announced.

"Got that finally right." he mumbled.

As he stepped into the Zeta-beam the last thing he heard was Kid Flashes voice:

"Don't forget my souvenir!"


	2. Chapter 2

**So here is the second chapter!**

**I have seen the latest episode of Young Justice, but for the sake of this story I'm just going to ignore it.**

**I don't know what Roy's origin story exactly is in the comics, but I know he was raised by Native Americans, and I know that in the young justice canon Oliver took him in when he was about fourteen. So I just wrote how I think it happened.**

**If I have enough time the third chapter will be up in about a week**

******So enjoy and please review!**

**************Disclaimer: I don't own young justice**

* * *

Happy Harbor Airport Feb 26th 16:27

Roy walked towards his gate with a slow pace, pondering about how he was ever going to find Cheshire in a big city like Ho Chi Minh City.

Batman had given him her last known location, but it was already three days ago that she had been seen there.

Who knew where she would be at this moment.

She could already be on the other side of the world.

Still his search would start in Vietnam because Batman had said that Cheshire was half Vietnamese.

Roy didn't have a clue where he got that information from, but he was Batman.

So it was wise not to question him.

Walking past a big mirror he automatically glanced up to check his reflection.

For a moment he thought had a window mistaken for a mirror, because a guy who looked a lot like him, but with black hair and brown eyes was staring back at him.

Then he remembered that Black Canary had given him a transformation, because his own red hair would be a give-away for Cheshire.

Quickly he walked past his own reflection.

His bag was already checked in and now he only had to wait for his plane to depart.

Time was slowly ticking by and Roy couldn't help but wonder what his friends back at Mount Justice were doing now.

M'Gann would probably be cooking something inedible in the kitchen.

But after trying to bake cookies for the hundredth time, he had to admit she was getting better at it.

Connor would be watching static on the big television in the main living room.

Somehow the big snow storms really seemed to interest him.

They really needed to teach him how to watch TV properly, maybe then he learned something more about humans.

It wasn't hard to guess what Dick and Wally would be doing now.

Most likely they were bickering about a videogame.

And Kaldur would be watching them and shaking his head in disagreement.

Like he did most of the time when Dick and Wally were fighting about things like food and the TV-remote.

Roy couldn't help but think about Artemis too.

He knew that she wasn't really Oliver's niece, and that she lived in Gotham instead of Star City.

But that was about everything he knew about her.

Where would she be now, and why was she so desperately trying to hide her secret identity from the others?

Of course Dick knew who she was, but Bruce had forbidden the Boy Wonder to tell rest of the team.

Somehow Bruce and Oliver knew everything about her and still allowed her to be on the team.

So they must have had a good reason for that.

Roy made a mental note to himself, that when he returned from his mission he would try to find out more about Artemis.

Or maybe trick Dick into telling him.

But since he was trained by the Bat that would probably prove difficult.

Roy was shaken up from his thoughts by a voice that announced that the passengers were now allowed to board the plane.

After searching for five minutes he found his seat by a window.

That pleased him.

He had always liked watching the plane take off since he was a kid.

_Arizona Navajo Reservation Airport June 27__th__ 4 years ago 11:38_

"_So you have never flown with a plane before?" Oliver Queen asked. _

_Roy shook his head,_

_ "Nope, I've never left the reservation before. Brave Bow used to tell me they were just gigantic birds who were leaving for warmer places. _

_When I was eight I found out that they were made by humans," he laughed. _

_Oliver and he were standing on the biggest airport Roy had ever seen. _

_Technically it was the only airport he had ever seen. _

_With him he carried a handmade bag with the few things he owned, ready to leave the reservation where he was raised. _

_Roy was grateful that Oliver wanted to take him as his ward, but he still felt a little sad about leaving his former adoptive father behind. _

_But Brave Bow had insisted that Roy left with Oliver, saying that that it would be better for his future._

"_Come on, let's go," Oliver said putting a hand on the young archer's shoulder. _

_Together they boarded the plane. _

_Roy kept asking questions about Star City until the plane started to lift of. _

_He pressed his face to the small window trying not to miss anything. _

_Oliver was watching him with a smile. _

"_Wow!" Roy exclaimed,_

_ "I feel like a bird! I can see everything! There is mine and Brave Bow's hut and there's the archery training field!" _

_Oliver was enjoying the young teen's enthusiasm. _

_"Just wait until you see the skyline of Star City." He said with a smile._

When they were high up in the air Roy settled himself for the long flight to Vietnam.

His thoughts went back to the briefings het got today.

He hadn't been given much instruction or information, but that didn't bother him.

He was used to finding things out for himself.

That was more or less a talent he had.

Sometimes he found things out that he wished he hadn't, like that time when Dinah stayed the night at Oliver and his house for the first time.

Roy mentally stopped himself from thinking about that incident any further.

It wasn't something he liked to remember.

Looking out the window he saw only clouds and the occasional mountain peak.

It was already growing dark outside.

Leaning back in his seat Roy closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep before they landed.

About seven hours later he was woken up by the pilot's voice announcing that they would be landing in Ho Chi Minh City in twenty minutes.

* * *

Ho Chi Minh City Feb 27th 00:06 Eastern time 12:06 Vietnamese time

After retrieving his sports bag Roy went to search for the locker that Batman had said would be here.

The key in his pocket read 273 so after searching through 5 rows of lockers he found his.

Inside it there were indeed some keys to an apartment and keys that seemed to fit on a motorcycle.

He also found a brand new phone and a Credit card.

"How much money would be on this thing?" He asked himself with a grin.

Then he quickly looked around to make sure nobody had heard him.

But because he was in farthest corner of the hall, no one had heard him.

When he took all the things out to stuff them in his bag, he saw an envelope lying in the back of the locker.

It contained a letter addressed to him.

Roy read it quickly.

It contained the address to his apartment, the location of his motorcycle and a four-digit code to use his Credit card.

He put the letter in his jacket pocket and closed his locker, making a mental note to get rid of the letter later, so he wouldn't give himself away.

Then he made his to the exit of the airport.

Using his motorcycle to navigate the busy streets Roy got a good look of Ho Chi Minh City.

It looked like there were merchants on every corner of every street.

And when his feet were touching the ground for a second people were flooding him to get him to buy something like he was a tourist.

At this moment he felt like a tourist, asking for directions to find his apartment.

Everyone seemed to point him to different directions.

And although he looked half Vietnamese, he couldn't understand a word they were saying to him.

After a lot of asking and directions, he eventually found a small shop where he bought a map of the city.

That made a bit easier to find the route to his apartment.

Still he decided that he would download a GPS for his phone as soon he was in his new home.

Assuming there was an internet connection.

He wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't.

Roy finally arrived at a large building that looked like an apartment building.

He parked his motorcycle on an empty parking lot and entered the building.

While he was searching for his door he came across a man who looked like the janitor.

The man was old and wrinkly and was sweeping the hallway furiously.

When Roy walked past him the man gave him a glare that put the Bat glare to shame.

Roy tried not to look at him and quickly walked further in search for his door.

The entire building consisted of dark, dusty hallways and doors that looked all the same.

If he wanted to host a Halloween party he would definitely have chosen this place.

A little nervous about what he would find he arrived at his own door.

It was dusty and the paint let loose.

When he tried to turn his key in the rusty lock it made a scratching sound and he had to put his weight to the door to open it.

When the door opened however he was filled with relief.

The room before his eyes looked nothing like the rest of the building.

It was light and clean and furnished simple.

There was a small kitchen, a living room, a bathroom and a small bedroom.

Roy walked in and took everything in.

There was a dining table, a couch and a small television.

When he checked the refrigerator he found out that it was stocked with enough food for at least three weeks.

Walking to the bedroom he dumped his bag on the floor.

Too tired to do anything else Roy lied down on the bed and closed his eyes.

It would take some time to get adjusted to the Vietnamese time zone.

But for now it came in handy.

Being awake at night allowed him to begin his search tonight.

For now he would just try to get some sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**It took a while, but here is the third chapter!**

**The next chapter will probably take even longer because I have my exams in a week,, but I'll try to upload is soon.**

**I have made a sketch of Roy's 'Arsenal' costume and it can be found on my gallery on **

**I use the same username.**

**So enjoy and please review!**

**disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice**

* * *

Ho Chi Minh City Feb 28th 02:37

Roy had been standing on the same rooftop for two hours.

It was the highest spot he could find in this neighborhood.

Earlier this night he had downloaded a GPS for his new phone, so he would be able to find his way in the city more easily.

And he desperately needed that, if he wanted to prove to Cheshire that he was born here and knew his way around.

Now standing on the spot Batman had said where Cheshire had been seen last he was using his binoculars to try to spot her, but to no avail.

He couldn't even find something that looked suspicious.

With a deep sigh he took in his surroundings again.

He was in one of the more poor districts of the city.

There were no high buildings here and a lot of small alleys.

At this hour the streets were almost deserted.

The only people still awake were men that who didn't look exactly friendly.

And there was another problem.

He had only seen Cheshire once without her mask.

He couldn't remember her face very well after the short encounter they had in Taipei.

He only remembered that she clearly had an Asian heritage.

That made it easier to spot her in the United States, but that didn't help him here.

In this city everybody looked Asian.

There were enough places for Cheshire to hide, even when she was wearing her mask.

This was going to be a long night.

High up on the roof the wind was blowing with enough force that it send a shiver down Roy's spine.

He was getting cold from standing still for so long.

If he had known that most of the night would consist of waiting he would have taken the leather jacket that came with his Arsenal costume.

He still had to get used to his new costume that replaced his Red Arrow one.

Instead of his usual streamlined pants and boots he now wore an outfit that consisted of dark army pants and heavy combat boots.

Further he wore a dark green shirt that seemed to be made of almost bulletproof fabric.

He had to remind himself that it was almost bulletproof and not completely like his Red Arrow costume, that was made of Kevlar.

Roy also had to get used to his new weapons.

He couldn't use his bow while he was undercover, so now he had two crossbows strapped to his back along with a quiver full of small arrows.

His boots contained a few throwing knifes and on hips he carried two pistols.

They were unloaded, because he wasn't planning on using the pistols.

He only added them to his outfit so he would look more menacing and so his new 'villain' name would fit better with his appearance.

The crossbows and the throwing knifes were a good enough substitute for his bow and arrows.

To hide his eyes he wore sunglasses that looked really dark, but in reality he could see through them just as clearly as normal glasses

Right now he wished he had also taken the damn jacket.

The goose bumps on his arms didn't really look menacing.

Roy slowly got up from his lying position en stretched his tensed muscles.

It was no use waiting here and hoping he would get a glimpse of Cheshire.

If he wanted to find her tonight he had to come up with another plan.

Walking to the edge of the building he took a good look at his surroundings.

The streets were still deserted and the only people he saw were the unfriendly looking men, who were still gambling in a dark alley at the end of the street.

Thinking about what to do next, he suddenly got an idea.

The gamblers were looking unfriendly to him, but he was probably looking just as unfriendly to them with the arsenal of weapons he carried.

They might be able to tell him were to find Cheshire if he could threaten them enough.

Roy slowly climbed down so he wouldn't alert the men.

When he reached the ground he made sure he was out of sight, carefully making his way to the alley.

He reached for the crossbows on his back.

Roy stepped into the alley and raised his crossbows pointing them at the man who looked like the leader of the group.

"I have a couple of questions for you! Do any of you speak English?"

The man pointed his own gun just as fast at him,

"You are American?" he asked.

"Half," Roy answered,

"And I would lower the gun if I were you; arrows are a lot harder to remove your body then bullets."

He tried to sound as menacing as he could and it was working.

"Who are you? What do you want?" the man asked while he slowly lowered his gun.

"You can call me Arsenal and as I was saying before you pulled the gun on me, I have a few questions I would like to have an answer to."

Roy could see that the man still wasn't convinced that he was dangerous.

But still he had to try.

"I want you to tell me everything you know about the League of Shadows and one of their leaders Cheshire."

"Why would I tell you?"the man said raising his pistol again.

Roy quickly reacted by shooting an arrow just a few inches next to his face in the wall.

"Because if you don't tell, I'll make sure you'll never tell anything ever again."

The man's eyes widened and he dropped his pistol.

"Okay, I'll tell, I'll tell, " he said throwing his arms in the air in defeat.

"There's just a small fraction of the League of Shadows here in the City, but they are well organized and led by Cheshire.

I have only seen her once, but there are rumors that she's hanging out in this area."

"where exactly is 'this area'?" Roy questioned him.

"That old warehouse over there, at the end of the street." The man answered while he pointed out the building.

"I told you everything I know, really. "

Roy could see the man had spoken the truth, so he lowered his crossbows a little.

"Thanks for the information. You can go on with your games now."

While he walked out of the alley the man spoke up again,

"What are you going to do when you find her? Kill her?"

Roy turned around so faced him again, and smiled.

"No. I'm going to join her."

And with those words he disappeared in the shadows.

Satisfied with the information he had gotten out of the man he climbed back up to his rooftop, so he could figure out what he would do next.

While he was contemplating different approaches he all of a sudden saw a shadow move across a wall down the street.

He couldn't see the shape very well, but he was convinced that it was one of Cheshire's people.

There weren't many people that could move that stealthily.

The shadow was going in the direction of the warehouse that the gambler had pointed out.

Making a decision Roy quickly got up and followed the shadow, while staying on the rooftops.

When he game closer to the warehouse he started to spot more shadows.

Every now and then he couldn't even distinguish figures in the dark.

He settled himself on a roof across the abandoned warehouse and used his night vision binoculars to keep an eye on the building.

While he waited he saw more and more shadows enter the building.

It was obvious that they were going to have some kind of meeting, so he decided to wait until Cheshire herself showed up.

He didn't have to wait long.

After a few minutes he saw a shadow coming out of an alley that quickly took the shape of a young woman.

Then Cheshire came out of the shadows and walked into the light of the lanterns.

This surprised Roy, she didn't seem to try to stay hidden.

She just walked through the light towards the warehouse and used the door to get in, instead of the windows that the others shadows had been using.

This gave him an idea.

He remembered the last he met her as Red Arrow.

She had clearly been flirting with him and referred to their encounters as 'dates'.

Being his usual serious self during missions this hadn't worked with him, but since he wasn't himself during this mission he could use it to his advantage.

He got up from his lying position and climbed down the building.

This time he didn't try to do it quietly and when he reached the ground he jumped down and made sure that it made some noise when his boots touched the ground.

Simply stalking over to the door of the warehouse he swung it open and marched inside.

Inside the warehouse was dark and he couldn't see much.

It took him a few moments to get his eyes adjusted to the shadows.

"Hello? Is somebody here?" he called out, making it sound like he was just looking for some friends.

Behind him he heard rustling, but before he could turn around strong arms grabbed him and prevented him from moving.

"Easy, easy. Did it look like I was going to shoot anybody?" he said.

All of a sudden a small light turned on and Cheshire walked into it.

She was wearing her normal green attire and her mask.

On her hips she wore her sais but Roy knew she also had a number of shurikens hidden somewhere in her clothing.

"What is a gorgeous young man like you, doing in a dark place like this?" she said, walking towards him and touching his cheek.

"What is a beautiful young woman like you doing with a gang like this." Roy retorted with a smile playing along with her flirtations.

"Whatever I want." She smiled back.

"But that doesn't answer my question," she continued, "What are you doing here?"

She traced his chest with her finger.

"Offering you my services. In return for a service I need from you." he kept smiling.

"Hm, that sounds interesting." She gestured for her men to let him go.

"I you help me with a personal mission, I'll help you with your missions during my stay here." Roy said touching the cheek of Cheshire's mask.

"Leave us." she ordered her men.

To Roy's surprise all the men disappeared from the warehouse within seconds and he was left alone with Cheshire.

"Since you obviously know who I am, what do I call you?" she said circling around him.

"Arsenal." He answered with a grin turning around to face her again.

"That's a name that sounds good to me. Tell me more about your 'personal mission'"

"I'm here to finish someone, but I have some trouble finding him. And I was told that you are one the best when it comes to finishing people off."

"You heard right. But now I want to know more about you. What are your skills?"

"I can use guns, knives and crossbows. Is that good enough for you?"

"Perfect, I can use somebody like you. I'll make you a deal. If you help me and my men with retrieving stolen weapons from all over town this week, I'll help you track down this person you want to finish."

This was going better than Roy had hoped, but he remained cautious.

It wouldn't surprise him if Cheshire had other plans than that she was saying.

"Deal. How do I find you again?" he offered her his hand but instead she made a small bow to him.

"You don't. I'll find you. Wait for me on the roof of this warehouse tomorrow night"

With that she turned around and started to walk away.

"Oh. And one more thing," she faced him again, "If I even have the smallest suspicion that you are betraying me, I know where to find you."

"It wouldn't even cross my mind to betray you, beautiful." Roy smiled to her.

The last thing he saw was Cheshire disappearing in the shadows again and he was alone.

"Well that went better than I thought." he said to himself.

He had suspected that he would have to go through some sort of trial, but apparently not.

In a high spirit he left the building.

The rest of the night he used to make himself more familiar with the different districts of the city and to ponder about the next step in his plan.

It was almost 5 o'clock in the morning when he returned to his apartment and lied down on his bed.

His thoughts went back to moment Cheshire first touched his cheek.

It seemed like she liked him, but he couldn't figure out if it part of her act or that she really felt attracted to him.

And to his own surprise he found that he felt attracted to her too.


	4. Chapter 4

**My next chapter!**

**I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed my story, I really appreciate the feedback!**

**My exams have started today, so I think it will take me a while to write the next chapter.**

**I don't need to say anymore about this chapter, just read it and review!**

**disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice**

* * *

Ho Chi Minh City March 21st 13:46

"Watch where you're going!" was screamed at Roy again by a merchant.

It was the hundredth time already this afternoon he heard that phrase yelled at him by merchants.

So by now he just ignored it and kept on walking, slowly making his way through a crowd of people.

Most of the time he couldn't even understand what they said, but he assumed it was all the same, since it sounded all the same to him.

'Sorry' was the word that he had looked up in 'Vietnamese for dummies' and he was glad he had done that, for he had used the word more today than he had in his entire life.

Constantly bumping into people wasn't his best idea for a free afternoon.

It was a hot day and the market was a crowded place.

So he just wore a pair of shorts with a t-shirt.

And he had found out that Oliver had put his favorite pair of all stars that were nearly falling apart in his bag.

But since it was his favorite pair he had decided that when they really fell apart he would throw them away.

Blinded by the hot afternoon sun, Roy took his sunglasses from his pocket to put them on and took a look around him.

Everywhere were stands with exotic fruits and things he had never seen before in his life.

How was he supposed to fill his fridge if he didn't even know what he held in his hands?

Eventually he just picked some things that looked vaguely familiar, and he hoped that it would be edible.

After living in this city for three and a half weeks he finally knew his way around better, and that proved handy.

Especially during the missions that he had with Cheshire for the past weeks.

* * *

_Ho Chi Minh City March 5__th__ 03:25_

"_So we just break into the building, take the weapons and get out again, like the last two times? Or is there more to it?" Arsenal asked Cheshire._

"_It's the same. But we have to be more careful with the security, we don't want to be seen doing something that's against the law, right?" she whispered next to his ear._

"_I'll take care of it." _

_With that said Arsenal made his way down from the roof on which they had been hiding._

_He stealthily moved from shadow to shadow until he reached the farthest wall off the military complex._

_Signing to Cheshire that he reached the wall he got the signal to continue._

_Scaling the wall was easy and using the scanning function of his sunglasses he saw that there weren't too many soldiers guarding the complex. _

_Having memorized the map of the buildings he quickly found his way to the control room._

_It was guarded by two soldiers, but with two tazer arrows he easily took them out._

_But he made sure he didn't hurt them too seriously._

_After he disabled the alarms and camera's Arsenal opened his communicator channel with Cheshire,_

"_I'm in. The cam's are off and the soldiers are down. "_

"_Good work. I'll meet you at the rendezvous-point. Cheshire out." _

_The rest of the mission consisted of getting rid of the remaining soldiers and guards and gaining access to the weapons vault._

_Cheshire had called in a number of her men to assist her and Arsenal with moving all the weapons out of the complex and to their hideout._

_Running over the rooftops, Arsenal tried to keep up with Cheshire, but it proved hard._

_Cheshire appeared to know every inch of the rooftops and it didn't take long for him to lose her out of sight._

_It was no use for him to try to find her again, so instead he stopped and tried to catch his breath._

"_You didn't grow up here, didn't you?" a voice sounded from the shadows._

_Within a second he had aimed his crossbow at the voice, but when he realized it was Cheshire he lowered it._

"_No, I didn't. How did you know?" _

"_A feeling I had." She walked up to him, "You did good work today, but I noticed something."_

"_Is that good or bad?" Arsenal said flashing her a smile._

"_That depends on you, " she answered touching his arm. _

_Somehow every time she touched him an alarm bell went off in the back of his head, but he also enjoyed the moments of contact with her._

"_You seemed to try not to kill anyone tonight, unlike the others. Why?"_

_Arsenal had prepared himself for that question, because he knew that sooner or later Cheshire would notice how carefully he took down every opponent._

"_Because I'm saving my first kill for a special person."_

* * *

Ho Chi Minh City March 21st 14:07

How hard could it be to find a suitable birthday present for a teen who just turned fourteen, and who also happened to be a crime fighter in his spare time?

And now after wandering over the market for the last three hours, Roy still couldn't find anything.

First he had opted for a traditional souvenir, like a statue made by the local people.

But he quickly dismissed that idea.

In the numerous rooms and hallways in Wayne Manor it would just get lost.

He needed something more memorable.

Like something big, or dangerous.

But more importantly, he had to get Dick a better present than Wally.

Last year with Dick's birthday he lost their annual contest of who could find the best gift.

So that was his drive this year.

Because he wasn't going to lose from Wally two years in a row.

Thanks to the ordered radio silence he hadn't been able to call Dick today to personally congratulate him , so he had to make it up to him with the best birthday present ever.

After another hour of searching for something suitable Roy gave up for today.

If everything went according to plan with his mission he wouldn't go home for another four weeks, so he still had all the time in the world for finding a gift.

Instead he walked towards one of the less busy parts of the market, hoping he could find some edible stuff.

Walking past different stands he saw all kinds of food a lot of which he couldn't even name.

For Wally this place would have been like heaven, he thought with a smile.

He had been thinking about getting a souvenir for him that had something to do with food, but a few nights ago he had already found the perfect souvenir for the speedster.

* * *

_Ho Chi Minh City March 12__th__ 05:32_

_This time it was Arsenal who found Cheshire, hiding in an alley in one the richer districts of the city._

_He had been looking for her for a few hours now, to ask her for help for his mission._

_But that was just a cover, what he really wanted was some time together without her men so he could maybe learn some more personal things about her._

"_Look who has found me again. You're really getting good at it." She stood up from her crouched position._

"_I have a feeling that you just let me find you, beautiful." Arsenal said coming closer to her._

"_If I did, would you have a problem with it?"she responded while she took a step closer to him._

"_I think I kinda like it" they were face to face now._

"_I'm sure you do," she placed her hand on his cheek and Arsenal leaned into her touch ,"now what brings you to me, this time?"_

_Arsenal took her hand in his and placed a photo in it._

"_I've been helping you for two weeks, now I need your help finding this person."_

_Cheshire looked at the photo._

_The photo contained a man who clearly looked Asian and a woman who had blond hair and green eyes, they had their arms wrapped around each other's shoulders._

_To her the photo looked real, but Arsenal knew the people in the picture didn't really exist, it was one of the things Batman had given him to prove his back story._

"_I suppose I need to help you track the man?"_

"_Yes. His name is Danh Vuong. He's about forty-five by now, this photo was taken eighteen years ago."_

"_Can I ask why you are looking for this man?" she put the photo in her belt._

"_It's personal. Let's just say I have a special _

_Cheshire looked at him for a moment and then shrugged,_

"_So he's your dad, and he left you and your mother?" she enjoyed watching the surprised look on his face._

"_How did you know?" he asked feigning surprise._

_He already had a feeling that sooner or later Cheshire would know who the man was who he was hunting._

"_A man who looks Vietnamese but clearly grew up in America, shows me a picture of a man who looked like he could be your father and an American woman. It's not that hard." _

"_Fine, it's my father. He left me and my mother for dead when I was still a baby. Now will you help me find him?" It came out a little harsher than he had intended, but the message was clear._

"_I know just where to begin your search, follow me." She walked out of the alley, but then she turned around again and threw a communicator at him._

_Arsenal caught it and inspected it quickly. _

_It was in the shape of her mask and displayed an big grin. _

_With a smile he put it his pocket and followed Cheshire, now he didn't have to worry about a souvenir for Wally anymore._

* * *

Ho Chi Minh City March 21st 15:16

It was getting too hot for Roy on this busy market, so he decided to make his way out of the maze of merchant stands as fast as he could.

If he could get home soon, he could use his time to do some research about other fractions of the league of shadows.

Gently pushing his way through a group of people he accidentally bumped into a young woman.

"Excuse m…" the woman had turned around to face him and he looked straight into a face that he recognized immediately, and he was speechless for a moment.

He stared straight into the face of a mask less Cheshire, the only difference was that she now wore her hair in a ponytail and wore normal clothes.

Seeing her reaction he realized that she recognized him too.

"Come on." Cheshire grabbed his arm and guided him through the crowd of people into a quiet street.

"What are you doing here?" he whispered to her.

"I live here."

"Oh. Off course, I should have known that something like this could happen."

"How is your search going, Arsenal? Have you been able to find a trace of your father?" she asked him curiously.

"No . I haven't found a trace yet. And my name is Danny, by the way." Without her mask on he realized how handsome she actually was.

He couldn't deny anymore that he really felt attracted to her.

But he couldn't give in to his feelings. She was a villain. A killer.

On the other hand, he knew that she felt attracted to him too and he could use that to his advantage.

"Jade. My name's Jade."

"That's a beautiful name, for a beautiful girl. Now that I know what you look like, I can say that and really mean it." he said with a smile.

She answered his smile, "I can say the same about you."

Roy took his chance and took her hand, "Any chance you want to hang out with me, without sneaking on rooftops and stealing weapons?"

She traced his chest with her slim finger like she had done before.

"Hmn, that's an interesting request. "

Then she kissed him on his cheek, "I accept your request, " she whispered in his ear, "and I know a few places here which will give you a more memorable stay her in my city.

"I'd love to see them," he whispered back and tucked a few loose strands of her hair behind her ear.

The rest of the day Roy forgot all about his earlier plans.

It wasn't until 12 o'clock before he returned to his apartment and decided he wouldn't go out anymore tonight.

He lied down on his bed and let thoughts fill his mind.

He had really enjoyed spending time with Jade and started to see her less as the villain Cheshire and more as a person.

And he had found out a little about her past.

It was obvious that she had grown up here for a time, and that she clearly hated her family.

But most of all he had found out that he really started to love her, and that she loved him back.

And somewhere in the back of his head a few alarm bells went off again, but this time he chose to ignore it.


	5. Chapter 5

**I have to admit I really enjoyed writing this chapter :)**

**It is the first I wrote something like this so if it's kind of lousy, please forgive me.**

**I should be learnig for my finals and not working on this story, but I couldn't resist!**

**The next chapter will follow soon, because I have already been working on it :D**

**Enjoy and please review!**

**disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice**

* * *

Ho Chi Minh City March 29th 00:05

"Those weapons were the last ones we needed to steal. Within a few days I will receive new orders and be on my way again." Cheshire took of her mask and became Jade, "Thanks for your help, Danny."

"Thank you, for your help with my search for my father." Roy said with a smile.

But the truth was that he really didn't want her to go on.

It was the first time he had seen her again since their encounter on the market and the evening that had followed.

And though he still didn't want to admit it completely, he had really fallen in love with her.

At the moment they were sitting on the edge of a roof, shoulder to shoulder, looking over the heart of the city.

There were lights burning everywhere and noises coming from the streets.

For a moment Roy didn't feel like an undercover hero but just like a tourist.

The young man in him screamed at him to put his arm around her and show her what he felt for her, but the hero side of him told him that it was wrong, what he was doing and that he would never be able to forgive himself if he gave in to his feelings.

Lost in thought he didn't notice that Jade started to trace his hand with her fingers.

"It's a shame we haven't found a trace of him yet, but I'm sure you'll find him eventually."

Roy looked up,

"What? Oh, yeah it's a shame. But I'm sure I wouldn't have gotten as far with my search without you."

He took Jade's hand in his own.

"Where will you continue your search?" she asked him

"I don't know" he answered.

For a moment they were just sitting there hand in hand enjoying the view.

It was Jade, who first broke the silence,

"It's looks romantic don't you think? As stupid as it sounds."

Roy just nodded.

"I've never been in love before. I couldn't afford it, always being on the move, carrying out orders… "

It looked like she wanted to say more but she just fell silent.

Roy wanted to say something too, but he didn't know what, when all of a sudden Jade surprised him by pressing her lips to his.

First he wanted to pull back, but then he made the decision to just ignore his hero side and kissed her back.

Her lips where so soft he never wanted to stop kissing her.

When they ended the kiss, Roy looked her in the eyes.

"You remind me of someone," he said tucking a few strands of hair behind her ears, "I can't remember of whom, but your eyes look really familiar."

Jade laughed, "My sister lives in America, maybe you have seen her somewhere."

Roy laughed too, "That must be it." Then he kissed her again.

But this time Jade pulled back and placed her fingers against his lips, "I want to show you something." She whispered, "A place where we can do what we want."

He didn't even have to think about what she meant and somewhat more eager than he liked to admit he nodded.

Then Jade got up and pulled him up with her.

"Follow me."

She started to make her way across the rooftops again but now she made sure Roy was able to follow her.

After a short run they reached the roof of an old apartment building that looked like it had been standing there for years.

Jade grabbed Roy's hand and led him through the door on the roof into the building, and then passed different apartment doors.

Suddenly she stopped.

"We're here." She said an opened the door with an old key she fished from her pocket.

"We're where?" Roy questioned and followed her through the door.

"The place where I've been living for the past two months." she said and turned on the light.

It was a small place furnished with just the necessities.

Jade turned around and pulled Roy further into the room, and locked the door behind him.

She dropped her mask and all her weapons on the ground, and Roy followed her example.

Laying her arms around his neck she kissed him again.

Slowly she lowered her hands to his shoulders.

Roy did the same.

But when she lowered her hands further and tried to take off his shirt, he took a step back.

He knew this was wrong, but he also knew that he really wanted Jade.

"What is it?" she asked him

For a moment his head was clear again and he could hear Dinah yelling in his head,

"_You did what?"_

But then his feelings and emotions took over again and he shook his head,

"Nothing." He answered and pulled her body against his again.

Again Jade's hands went to his shirt; she pulled it over his head and tossed it aside.

She touched his well-muscled torso, "You work out a lot, don't you?"

"I like to stay into shape."

Roy wanted to take off her kimono, but jade stopped him by taking his hand in her own.

"I have a better place for this." she whispered and kissed him on his cheek.

She led him to her bedroom and closed the door behind her.

* * *

Ho Chi Minh City March 29th 06:47

When Roy woke up the sun was shining through the curtains.

Confused he looked around him, but then he remembered where he was.

Next to him Jade was still sound asleep.

When he looked at her he felt guilt flooding over him.

How could he have been so stupid?

Falling in love with your enemy, knowing you have to leave her again?

He knew it was a mistake, and now his mission was over and there was nothing he could do about it.

But on the other hand, she would have known it too.

That they couldn't stay together and that she would have to move on.

Quickly he got out off the bed and putted on his clothes again.

Looking back at the bed he saw that Jade hadn't woken up.

Silently collecting his weapons he decided that leaving now while she was still was best.

When he opened the window to get out a thought suddenly hit him.

His mission!

It was to turn over Cheshire to the local authorities.

He knew she had committed crimes that were far worse than what they had done in the past month, so she probably deserved to go to prison.

But knowing that he would have gotten her at her weakest moment just felt wrong to him.

Pondering about how he was going to solve his dilemma he decided to compromise.

He wouldn't turn her over and would give her a chance to escape.

But he would tell Batman everything he found out about her and that she escaped because she found out that he was not who he said that he was.

Sneaking through her apartment he found what he was looking for: a pen and a piece of paper, and began to write his message to her.

_Dear Jade_

_We both knew that this could never be, and I'm sorry I have to leave you like this._

_I'm not who you think I am and trust me it's better if you don't know._

_When you read this I will be gone, but I have to give you a warning._

_Leave this city as soon as you can._

_Danny_

With pain in his heart he looked at her sleeping form for the last time and placed his message on the pillow next to her.

Then he climbed out of the window and made his way back to his own apartment.

When Roy reached his apartment his emotions started to bubble inside of him and while he threw his clothes and his others possessions in his sports bag he was getting angrier and angrier.

When he finished packing, he tried to calm himself down.

When he felt a little calmer and in control he pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed the secure number of Mount Justice that was only used for emergencies.

"Harper, I ordered radio silence. This better be an emergency. "

Roy momentarily taken aback by the harsh tone in Batman's voice.

Then he regained his composure and took a deep breath before explaining the situation to him.

"This is an emergency. I have gathered as much information about Cheshire as I could, but she sensed that there was something wrong and escaped."

He mentally prepared himself for the scolding he certainly was going to get.

But it didn't come.

"Get to airport as soon as you can, I'll arrange a plane ticket back to Happy Harbor island for you. From now on you're not undercover anymore. We'll discuss your mission when you're back at the Mountain. Batman out."

Roy shoved his phone back in his pocket and hoisted his bag on his shoulders.

He locked the apartment door and made his way to his motorcycle.

While he was on his way to the airport he let all his emotions out inside his helmet and by the time he reached the parking lot he had calmed down again.

He left his weapons and keys in the locker and made his way to a bathroom.

Once he was inside a bathroom he took out his contacts and threw them away.

Ruffling through his bag he found a passport that looked exactly like his own, but this one had his picture with blue eyes and black hair.

When he checked it appeared that Bruce Wayne had arranged a ticket for Roy Harper and that the plane departed within an hour.

* * *

One hour later Roy's plane was in the air, and he was on his way back to Rhode Island.

He was exhausted, but he couldn't fall asleep.

There were too many thoughts going through his mind.

Most of the time his thoughts wandered back to Jade, who undoubtedly would have read his message by now.

After almost five weeks of hanging out with her, he already started to miss her.

But he mentally corrected himself; he couldn't go on having feeling things for her.

He had to let her go.

But it was hard for him, and now he realized how big the mistake was that he had made.

It wouldn't just take a few hours to let Jade go.

Finally after a long time he fell into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

Ho Chi Minh City March 29th 08:29

The first thing Jade noticed when she woke up, was that Danny was gone.

The second thing she noticed was that there was note lying on the pillow next to her.

When she read it a single tear rolled down a cheek, but she quickly wiped it away.

She wasn't like some weak girl that would go crying about this for hours.

First she tried to calm herself.

Then she scolded herself for getting so emotionally attached to him, a guy whom she had known for just five weeks.

"I bet your real name isn't even Danny!" she yelled in frustration.

But she knew she couldn't blame him.

This was as much her mistake as it was his.

With just her kimono on she walked into her living room.

There were no traces to be found of him anymore, he had taken everything with him.

Then she noticed that he did forget something, his sunglasses where still lying on the ground.

With a sad feeling she picked them up.

They didn't seem to be made by an ordinary manufacturer judging by the small buttons on the sides.

When she putted them on she noticed that they weren't even real sunglasses.

She realized that his whole mission to find his father probably wasn't even real and that he must have had an underlying mission.

Al of a sudden the sunglasses reminded her how vaguely familiar his eyes had looked.

Actually, now that she thought about it his whole face had looked kind of familiar.

Maybe that was why she had connected with him easily.

Taking them off again she laid them down on the table and started to collect her things.

Danny had warned her to leave town as soon as possible and since she was still waiting for a new mission she decided to do just that.

Then maybe she could shake him off and forget about this whole situation.

But in her heart she knew it would take her a while to get over this.

When she had packed all her possessions she picked up the sunglasses again and stared at them for moment.

One way or another she would find out who he really was.


	6. Chapter 6

**It's been a while, but here is a new chapter!**

**First I like to thank everybody for reviewing again!**

**I'm completely ignoring season 2 in this story and the episode in wich they discover Roy is actually a clone, just so you know.**

**But I'm really happy they added Lian to the show! (and Impulse by the way, he's also one of my favorites. I hope he becomes friends with Tim)**

**But enough of my fan talk, enjoy the new chapter and review please!**

**disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice**

* * *

Mount Justice March 30th 09:25

"I am soooo bored!" Wally exclaimed for the fifth time in ten minutes.

He was hanging on the couch in the main living room with his teammates.

Except for Roy and Dick everyone was there.

"Why don't you go play videogames with Robin?" M'gann asked

"Rob's still asleep. Bats was busy with something important and gave him the day off andthefirstthinghe  
doesiswhenhe'sfreeissleepinginsonowI'm boooored!"

"Wally, if you're talking that fast nobody can understand you but Connor." M'gann told him with a smile.

"I know, but you guys are so slow sometimes."

Artemis looked up from her magazine,

"Wanna see how fast I can throw this magazine at your head?" she said to at Wally.

"No we don't." Connor said gruffly and went back to helping M'gann in the kitchen.

The room fell silent for a moment.

Since Red Arrow had been given his special assignment, nothing had been going on in Happy Harbor.

So after a few weeks of just hanging around at Mount Justice it became increasingly difficult for them to entertain them self, especially for Wally.

And since Dick wasn't around all the time, because of his busy schedule in Gotham, he became more and more bored every day.

This was the third day in a row Wally was just hanging around on the couch the whole morning.

Suddenly a thought hit him.

"Hey, did you guys know that Rob speaks fluent Romany?" he asked his teammates.

"No, how do you know that?" Artemis asked.

"Well, last week we had a sleepover at his house and when I woke up in the middle of the night he was mumbling something in a weird language, so I looked it up on the internet and it was Romany."

Wally was careful with his words so he wouldn't accidentally give Dick's identity away.

"So what, maybe Batman made him learn it. " Artemis responded

"Maybe Batman made me learn what?" came Dick's voice from the door of the kitchen.

He yawned and walked into the kitchen dressed in a pair of sweatpants and t-shirt.

His mask was still over his eyes.

He made his way to the counter, climbed on a stool and laid his head on his arms,

"So M'gann, what's for breakfast? " he asked lazily, then he turned his head to look at Artemis, "You didn't answer my question, maybe Batman made me learn what?"

"Oh, Kid Mouth here said you are fluent in Romany, and we wondered if Batman made you learn it?"

Dick gave Wally a look that looked a lot like a batglare, and Wally smiled apolitically.

Then he looked back at Artemis again,

"Nope, it's my native language. I learned English when I was five."

Wally stared at him with his mouth open.

"Dude, why didn't I know that!" he exclaimed

"Dude! You never asked about it!" Dick mimicked Wally, who turned a little red because the others started laughing at him.

That shut him up for a moment, but it didn't take long before he started complaining again.

"Why do you all have such cool native tongues and I don't?" he whined, "Connor speaks Kryptonian, M'gann speaks Martian, Kaldur speaks Atlantean and now I learn that even Rob has a cool native language! It's not fair!"

"Wally, shut up!" Artemis yelled at him

He was about to make a remark when another thought hit him,

"Don't tell me you also have a cool native tongue." He looked at Artemis expectantly.

"No, " she started to say and on Wally's face appeared a big grin, "but I am bilingual. I was raised with both English and Vietnamese."

The grin on Wally's face disappeared again.

"Dang it!"

The others laughed again.

"What about Red Arrow? Does he have a native language other than English?" Connor asked Kaldur

"I don't know." He said looking up from his book, "You should ask Robin and Wally, since they know him best."

Connor repeated his question, but louder this time.

"Yeah, actually he has." Dick answered and received an look from Wally.

"How do you know? He never told me." Wally complained.

"Because you always talk about yourself, and I was trained by 'The World's Greatest Detective' remember? Sometimes you're really slow, you know that?"

"Ha ha, really funny. Now tell me!" Wally almost yelled.

"I'm not sure I'm suppose to tell you guys…" Dick hesitated.

"My native tongue is Navajo, Wally. You should know that since I was raised by the Tachini Tribe, as I told you already five times." Roy commended while walking into the living room.

"Dude!" Wally exclaimed, before realizing from whom the answer had come.

"Roy!" Wally and Dick simultaneously yelled and crushed him into a hug.

M'gann and the others started laughing.

"Hey guys, how's life been without me?" Roy said while trying to get out of their grip.

"Soooo boring. But now that you're back I can !" Wally practically yelled in his ear.

"Um, yeah… Whatever. I'm not sure what you just said, but it will have to wait. First I have to report to Batman." Roy responded and pushed Wally away from his ear.

"Good luck with that." Dick smiled innocently.

"Thanks, squirt." Roy said and ruffled the boy's hair.

"Hey!" Dick said padding Roy's hand away and trying bring his hair back into model.

Then Kaldur walked over to Roy.

"It's good to have you back, my friend." He said shaking his hand in his usually calm demeanor.

Thank you, Kaldur. It's good to see all of you back." Roy answered and gave Connor and M'gann a nod.

Then Batman's voice interrupted them, "Red Arrow, report to the mission room. Now!"

Dick chuckled, "Sounds like you're in trouble."

Roy gave him a look.

"I better get my ass back there, as soon as I can." Roy said with a grin, but the others could see that it took him a lot of effort to smile.

* * *

"Report." Batman growled.

To be face to face with the Dark Knight was bad enough when it was only via holographic screens, but having to face him in person was even worse.

And on top of that, Roy's news wasn't exactly good.

"Uhm.. " Roy took a deep breath, "I have gathered a lot of information about Ja… Cheshire and the league of Shadows' plans."

Somehow it didn't feel right to reveal her identity to Batman, but in the back of his head Roy knew that Batman already knew her identity.

"Why did you break radio silence against my orders?" his voice sounded harsh.

"She became suspicious and I think she knew that I wasn't who I told her I was."

"Why did you break of the mission?"

When I was supposed to meet her I discovered that she was gone. She left the City as fast as she could."

He was afraid that Batman would see through his lie, but apparently he didn't.

Or he just didn't show it.

For a moment it remained far more silent then Roy liked.

"I want your full mission report in the morning. Now go home and get some rest."

Then batman turned around and made his way to the living room.

Roy was left standing in the briefing room and didn't know what to say.

Roy Harper, the guy with the big mouth, didn't know what to say.

When he heard Batman say to Dick that he needed get his clothes and come with him, Roy was still standing there in utter amazement.

When Black Canary came into the briefing room he didn't notice her and kept staring straight ahead.

How could the briefing have gone so easy?

How could Batman just believe his lies?

Roy was shaken from his thoughts by a voice that called his name.

"Roy! Are you still with the living, kiddo?"

When he looked up his eyes met Dinah's.

She looked at him with concern in her eyes.

"Are you okay? I think I've never seen you this quiet before."

"Yeah, I'm okay," he answered, "What are you doing here Dinah?"

"I missed you too," she smiled, "Picking you up of course. Get your bag, I'm giving you a lift back to Star City."

Roy went to get his bag and followed Dinah to her motorcycle.

"Where's Ollie?" he asked as soon as they were on the highway.

"In Central City, working with Barry on a case."

To occupied with his thoughts he didn´t say a word to Dinah the rest of the way home.

When they arrived at his apartment he only gave her a brief hug and wanted to go his room, but Dinah stopped him.

"You know you can always talk to me, Roy. When you have a problem or need my help."

"I know, thanks Dinah." Roy answered and he wanted to close the door, but again she stopped him.

"Why don't you come over for dinner tomorrow. Ollie will be there too, so we can just talk."

"I don't know, I have a lot of catching up to do for college. I let you know okay?"

Dinah watched him close the door with concern.

She would try to talk with him later this week because it was obvious he had something on his mind.

Inside Roy dumped his bag on the table and unlaced his boots.

He was so tired he could think of nothing else but sleeping, but when he laid down on his bed everything that had happened to him in the last twenty-four hours came back to him.

He hoped that Jade had followed his advice and left Ho Chi Minh City.

He knew it was wrong to think that way, but he didn´t care anymore.

He couldn´t have screwed the mission up anymore, so why not feel bad for Jade?

At least there were no big consequences of his actions.

With that thought he finally fell asleep.

* * *

Beijing March 30th 11:15

Jade had followed his advice and left the city as soon as she could.

Now there was only one thing left to do, find out who Danny really was.

That might prove difficult, because he had probably been disguised the entire time.

His hair and eye color were probably not his own, so that mend he could look like anybody.

The only lead she had at the moment was the familiarity she had seen in his face.

If she could picture his face with different hair and eye colors she would probably recognize it.

The only problem now was to find a computer that she could use.

But that was a problem that wasn't hard to solve, there were enough secret hideouts here in China that she could use.

Right now Jade just wanted to rest after her escape from Ho Chi Minh City.

She had managed to push the last twenty-four hours to the back of her mind.

In a while she would be able to put it completely behind her, that would just be a matter of time.

She was glad that there weren't any lasting consequences of her actions.

Or anything else that would put her into trouble with the League of Shadows.


	7. Chapter 7

**Finally a new chapter!**

**It has been a while so it was hard for me to write this, but it's done!**

**It's not been beta-read yet, so I'm sorry for any mistakes but I'll update it when it is beta-read.**

**edit: It has been beta-read now by ShellH from DA :) **

* * *

Hong Kong April 28th 10:15

Jade never cried.

The last time she had cried was more than fifteen years ago, when she finally understood that every time her father went on 'a vacation' he actually had to spend time in jail again.

She hadn't cried when she was nearly beaten to death by a drunk Lawrence.

She hadn't cried when her mother was crippled and sent to jail.

She hadn't cried when she left home for good and joined the League of Shadows.

But now she didn't know what to do but cry.

Because the little sign on the pregnancy test clearly said positive.

How could she have been so stupid?

With her face in her hands she cried until she had no more tears left.

When she had calmed down, she grabbed her bag and threw her belongings in it.

From now on she couldn't stay in one place for longer than a few weeks anymore, if she wanted to hide her pregnancy from the League of Shadows.

* * *

Mount Justice July 12th 19:30

_"Red Arrow B-03" _the computer's voice announced as Roy stepped from the Zeta-beam.

Today was his nineteenth birthday and Dick and Wally acted as if they had forgotten, so that could mean only one thing.

A surprise party.

"Happy Birthday, Roy!"

As the lights flicked on Roy saw that the entire Young Justice team and their mentors were there. And a few extra people like Dinah and Hal.

The living room had been decorated, and in the centre on the table was standing a big cake.

"Hey guys." Roy said happily.

Wally and Dick were the first ones to jump him and fight over who could congratulate him first.

"Dude, you were first last year!" Wally yelled.

"That's not true!" Dick yelled back.

"Okay, okay calm down squirts." Roy tried to calm them down.

Both the boys looked at him simultaneously.

"Mind your own business, Roy!" they yelled at him.

Roy just looked at them shook his head.

"Fine, I'll go talk with people who do care about me." he shrugged.

When all the gifts were opened and the cake was eaten, most heroes left.

At the end it was only Roy, Dick and Wally who were left. And they were hanging in front of the big tv in the living room.

"So what are we gonna do now?" Dick asked his friends.

Wally shrugged, "I don't know, watch movies all night?"

"We can take a zeta-beam to Star City, and you guys can stay the night at my apartment?" Roy offered, "Then we can watch movies all night without being disturbed."

Dick jumped up, "Good idea, then I don't have to wear those stupid glasses the whole time!"

"Let's go right now!" Wally exclaimed.

Roy laughed. He couldn't think of a better way to end his birthday.

* * *

Paris July 12th 23:14

Jade made her way home to the little apartment she had rented for her stay in Paris. She was tired and just longed for a few hours of sleep.

Her pregnancy was wearing her out, she hadn't expected that it would be so hard to hide from the League of Shadows.

At first Jade had been confident that no one would notice what was going on, but now that she was fifteen weeks along and clearly showing she felt more and more insecure.

But for now, Paris would have to do.

When she reached the door of her apartment and turned the key in the rusty old lock a strange feeling of unease crept over her.

She surveyed the hallway again and slowly opened the door.

Inside everything was dark and the way she had left it.

But when her hand reached for the light switch she could swear that she saw something move on the other side of the room.

With one of her sais in her hand the she flicked the light on and gasped.

Sitting on the couch in her living room was Lawrence Crock.

"Hey, little girl." he said completely calm.

Jade followed her father's gaze and realized he was looking at her belly, so she crossed her arms and acted like she didn't know what he was staring at.

"What do you want? " she asked him sharply.

Her eyes met those of Lawrence.

"I hadn't spoken to you in almost fifteen weeks, so I realized there was something wrong. But now I see why you have been off the grid." he said looking disappointed.

"So?" Jade answered not as indifferent as she wanted.

"I never expected such stupidity from you, Jade." Lawrence said with a sigh.

"Does the League know?" she answered and suddenly she was frightened.

What if they had sent her father?

She would do anything to protect her child but right now she was in no condition to defend herself.

"No, they don't."

Now Jade could breathe a little more freely again. At least the worst had not happened yet.

Lawrence stood up from the couch and walked up to her.

"Who's the father?"

"That's none of your business."

"Don't I have the right to meet the father of my new grandchild?"

"Why are you here, dad?"

Lawrence thought for a moment and then locked eyes with her again.

"To give you a warning. If I have been able to find out where you are, so will the League. And they are not going to go as easy on you as I."

With that said he pushed Jade aside and walked out of the apartment. Jade just stood there for a few minutes before she collapsed on the couch and started crying.

She hated these stupid mood swings.

* * *

Star City November 29th 14:06

Roy hated college when he had just had a few hours sleep.

He couldn't understand why those stupid thugs just had to pick last night to rob a bank, just when he had wanted to sleep a full night for a change so he wouldn't fall asleep during his test.

He hadn't studied very much because he kept postponing it and now it was too late. This would be a re-examination.

"Mr. Harper, are you going to continue this test or are you going to take your beauty nap?"

Roy was shaken up from his thoughts by the professor. He thought for a while. Then he stood up and grabbed his backpack.

He handed his test to his professor, "I'm going home to continue my beauty nap." he told the man and walked out of the hall.

It didn't matter if he stayed or left, he would fail it anyway.

* * *

London November 29th 14:06

Jade was nervously sitting in her seat waiting for her plane to depart. With her finger she followed invisible lines on her belly, which was now pretty big.

She had waited until the last moment before flying back to Vietnam and now, at almost 36 weeks pregnant, was her last chance before she wasn't allowed to fly anymore.

After thinking about it for a long time, she had decided that she wanted her baby to be born where her own origins lay. And it was a place where she would be relatively safe for the time being.

The only thing she had to do, was find a way to get Roy back to Ho Chi Minh City.

She had found out about his identity a while ago and when she had pieced it together she wasn't even that surprised.

He had seemed familiar from the start.

And it offered her an opportunity.

She didn't want her baby to grow up the way she had. Surrounded by villains and never being sure about your own future. She wanted her baby to be safe and to grow up a good person.

So Jade had decided that it would have to be Roy who had to raise her baby. After all, it was his fault just as much as hers.

It would be hard she realized, to give her baby to a man whom she actually hardly knew, but it would be better than being hunted by the League of Shadows.

The more Jade thought about it the more sad she became. And when the plane departed her face was once again streaked with tears. She hated these mood swings...


End file.
